Contemporary turbo-prop engine aircraft can include one or more propellers attached to wings of the aircraft. When a propeller is installed on an aircraft, it will significantly alter the air flow field around the airframe. This is due to the rotating propeller generating a helical or spiral air flow field, known as a propeller wake, which affects the downstream air flow field.
The propeller wake includes axial and rotational components of velocity. The rotational components can either add or subtract to the lift generated by the wing, creating localized areas of increased or decreased lift along the wing span as compared to the lift generated by the wing without the wake. Thus, the installed propeller significantly modifies the flow field around the airframe, which is immersed in the propeller wake.
Current generation turbo-prop aircraft have been designed as an assembly of components, with each component created in isolation with minimal consideration of the created environment on the other aircraft components. More specifically, the propeller and airframe are designed independently. Thus, current wing designs do not attempt to compensate for the propeller wake. Instead, compensation for the effects of the wake is primarily handled by the aircraft trim adjustments.